I will go on shore alone, whilst you keep at a little
distance off, ready to fire to cover my retreat, if need be."
The young men objected to Willis incurring danger that they did not
share; but on this point Willis was inexorable, so they were obliged
to suffer him to depart alone. By good chance, they had shipped a
small cask of glass beads on board the pinnace. The Pilot took a few
of these with him, and, placing a cask and a couple of calabashes in
the canoe, he rowed ashore.
The natives were evidently in great commotion; there was an immense
amount of running backwards and forwards. Something important was,
obviously enough, going forward; but, whether the excitement was
caused by curiosity or admiration, it was hard to say. They might be
preparing a friendly reception for the stranger, or they might be
preparing to eat him--which of the two was an interesting question
that Willis did not care about probing too deeply at that particular
moment.
Fritz and Jack anxiously watched the operations of the natives from
the bay. They could not with safety abandon the pinnace; but to leave
Willis to the mercy of the sinister-looking people on shore was not to
be thought of either. The _Mary_ was, therefore, run in as close as
possible, and Jack leaped on the sands a few minutes after the Pilot.
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